Move over bears. Fat Marmot Week puts a spotlight on the alpine rodents
Summary
Researchers studying marmots in the Colorado mountains face funding cuts that threaten their work. These groundhog-like animals are important to study because climate change is affecting their mountain home, and a new event called Fat Marmot Week aims to raise money and awareness.Key Facts
- Marmots have been studied in Gothic, Colorado since 1962.
- Last winter, two-thirds of one marmot population died due to poor snow cover during hibernation.
- Fat Marmot Week is an online contest to highlight marmots preparing for winter, similar to Fat Bear Week.
- Marmots are large ground squirrels found in North America, Europe, and Asia.
- In the Rocky Mountains, yellow-bellied marmots are common and often seen by hikers.
- Researchers trap marmots using bait to study them but some animals are more cautious than others.
- Marmots hibernate deeply, lowering their body temperature to about 41°F (5°C), much colder than humans.
- Federal funding cuts jeopardize long-running marmot research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
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